Brideshead Revisited (DVD, 2009)

As a film, it is okay bordering on good and solid. The performances are strong enough to keep the audience interested, but they do not keep us enthralled. The leads are savvy and sexy in their own rights, but they lack true appeal as performers. They can come off as rather dull in certain scenes, but in others they pull out a subtle presence that is called for in intimate, or more emotion scenes. This inconsistence was bothersome and hindered the overall telling of the story. The one presence that is felt, but is far too short is that of Emma Thompson. As the matriarchal head of the family, she is brutal and works well with the one dimensional writing she was given. If they had focused more on her, we would have been able to understand the tortured minds of Julia and Sebastian better. Instead they have Julia and Sebastian describe her to the audience, which keeps us from getting close enough to realize what deformed her mind to begin with.

Charles is, at times to weak and unsure to be accepted as someone we want to see happy. We end up being unsure of his character's intention, and not in a mysterious, purposeful way, but in a, "the film-making is too unclear" way. Is Charles just a social climber whose dreams are dashed by his wants and Atheist ways? Or is he a moral soul lost in the pull of Brideshead's condemning Catholic trappings? This is the major flaw to the film, Charles is never exposed.

Small framing problems and out-of-style shots hampered the visual appeal, but with that aside, the visuals are very lush and the score complements some well placed montages to give the viewer a true sense of the desired never-ending summer Charles and Sebastian so desperately dream after.

If you like British tales of class and religion, or period films, this one is not a letdown. It is nothing new, but nothing terrible either. I recommend it if this is your sort of thing, I was not disappointed, but I wasn't blown away.

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The scenery in this movie is worth the price of the movie! This is an epic movie of misplaced love and righteous religion which tears a family apart. It is the time told story of misguided good versus invisible non existant evil.
It is breathtaking to see the artistic beauty and grace of what once was the overwhelming rich class and their hold on their children. It is a story of hope and dispair that ends in reality.

If you are familiar with the PBS series totalling almost eleven hours to tell the lush story of love, innocence and loss in an increasingly unpeaceful world between WWI and WWII by Evelyn Waugh, you will find this 2.25 hour film inadquate to tell the story.

The film is lush and beautiful. The true love relationship between Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte is much better handled in the film - it's clear they were in love - it's not clear whether the love was sexual in nature.

Large segments in time are just bypassed. At one moment in the film, it is announced that it is now four years later.

There was almost nothing about Charles' relationship with his wife as he was painting abroad. Too much is passed over too quickly.

I liked the music in the series much better than in the film.

Still, the film is a beautiful, lush time period piece. It was a large scale project. The acting is very good.

This is about Charles and Sebastian. The story is well told, and beautiful to watch.

I liked the film but I liked the digitally remastered 25th anniversary series better.

If I didn't know the series, I might have difficulty following the film through its time periods.

This is a period piece well done and historically accurate. After reading the book and seeing previews for the film I knew I had to have it. Emma Thompson outdoes herself with this character once again proving she is very bankable in any role she chooses. I cant wait to see her next product.